Proverbs 31, verses 25 to 27, strength and honor are her clothing

 

Proverbs 31:25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Strength, in Biblical terms, can be the produce of something, the result of its efforts.

Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Genesis 49:3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

In the Bible, God is said to be our strength.

Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

As you can see by Genesis 49:3 above, strength and power are synonyms. So it is in the following verse, as well, among others.

Psalm 68:35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.

The church is clothed in honour because the church honours God.

1Samuel 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

(Notice how “despise” in the above verse is synonymous to lightly esteem.)

When judgment comes the person or thing judged is either honoured or condemned. Here is honour again as praise and extol.

Daniel 4:37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

The church’s rejoicing is not now but in time to come (although we rejoice constantly now because we have an expectant hope for that time to come.) Before the influence of Greek philosophy the church’s vision was always looking upward expectantly waiting for Christ to return. That was a fundamental part of her mission. But when Sophistic sermons and philosophy became dominant in the church as many people steeped Greek higher learning, rhetoric, and standards entered in, the church lost her first love and began to look to earthly control and moral teaching rather than casting off the values and cares of this world and looking for a better country in heaven.

Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

That statement comes first before the following verse;

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Christians are called to good works but rather than redecorating the waiting room to Hell, they are to be focused upward and outward to the expectant return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rule. “…she shall rejoice in time to come.”

A church that does good works, feeds the poor, helps the sick, and supports the weak without presenting the gospel is simply another worldly humanitarian organization just as a church who preaches without doing those things is simply an empty shell (James 2:16.)

The Lord is the church’s strength and she is honored because she lifts Him up. Because of these things she shall rejoice when the Lord returns to call her out, then returns with her to rule the earth. Think about that.

Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

We’ve gone over this many times. It has been a recurring theme of the spiritual application of Proverbs. Wisdom is held aloft; God’s wisdom. Our wisdom is Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

The church has no political message to offer nor a message of conformity to societal norms nor is the Bible a supplement to Emily Post’s book of etiquette. The church is about Jesus Christ, the risen Saviour. It is not about your convictions, your prejudices, your bigotry, your patriotism, your loyalty to the policies of your favorite president and party, or how you were raised. It is to be about Christ. Christ is what is supposed to come out of the church’s mouth.

And it is to be done in kindness.

Titus 3:2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

Remember that the next time you feel like screaming Bible verses at people on the way to work. Is Christ’s wisdom coming out of your mouth and is it done in kindness, preaching kindness?

Proverbs 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

The church takes care of the needs of its people. This includes physical needs and spiritual. No one in the church who doesn’t have a family to help them should go without food, shelter, heat, or clothing. No one in the church should go without spiritual needs met. The church should be teaching how to read the Bible; to find instruction and comfort from it, to be taught by the Holy Spirit through it. Each time the church meets they should be edified by preaching and teaching, singing together and prayer. Singing together is a great bonder. The famous fighting group “The French Foreign Legion” uses the singing of martial songs to build the team spirit. Trainees are punished by extra physical training who don’t sing with all their hearts. I watched this (in a film, of course) at a place where they trained called “The Farm.” It was truly remarkable.

The church is not slothful. Idleness is not part of her agenda. There are needs to be met, the gospel to be preached, the Bible to be taught, and souls to be led closer to the Lord who created them and away from the usurper who seeks only to destroy. The church that is not about the Lord’s business is prone to infiltration by Satan and his ministers. The church is not a social club where “good people” meet once to three times a week to feel spiritual. The church is a living, breathing organism, the body of Christ on earth with the head in heaven.

Always looking up, but with hand and heart stretched out to those around her, the church fulfills its mission in the world, while it is still here.